God of War: Chains of the Heart
is a God of War/Kingdom Hearts crossover fic written by L3t_U5_D0_That_Aga1n and hosted on Archive of Our Own.
Five years after the events of Ragnarök, the remaining realms are at peace and working to rebuild. But the sudden appearance of a boy with a Keyblade sends everyone for a loop, as Kratos and his family work to help him get back home.
It can also be read here.
God of War: Chains of the Heart provides examples of:
- Adaptational Badass: The Polygon Man is heavily given this treatment. In Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale, despite being a Reality Warper, he could still be defeated by any individual character. In Kratos' retellings of those events, it required everyone in order to truly defeat him, and the Spartan still regards the Polygon Man with great fear.
- Alternate Self: The versions of the Greek Gods Sora regularly interacted with are completely different people from the ones Kratos knew and killed, leading to the Spartan to wonder about other versions of himself that may exist across the different realities.
- Arbitrary Skepticism: Besides Kratos, most of the characters find Sora's abilities and tales of his adventures hard to believe.
- Ax-Crazy: Surtr's death drove Sinmara completely mad with grief, as she now seeks vengeance against Kratos and Atreus, despite it being made clear to her that he willingly sacrificed himself to form Ragnarök so she would be spared. Any casualties she racks up in the process mean nothing to her. She even devolves into a full-on yandere who seeks to use the Keyblade to find a version of Surtr she can be with, not caring an ounce whether said version of him consents or not.
- Beware the Nice Ones: Sora's as much of an All-Loving Hero as ever and gets along with everyone he meets, but he can be damn near as ruthless as Kratos in battle.
- Broad Strokes:
- While Kratos' adventures in Playstation All Stars Battle Royale, the Soul Series, Mortal Kombat 9, and Shovel Knight are deemed canon to the fic, it's left vague as to what extent those events played out beyond the basic fundamentals of his appearances in those games.
- Despite the fic having been written and published before the Valhalla DLC, it's confirmed that a version of those events did happen years prior, though to what extent is left vague. The most that is gleamed over is the important aspects, such as Týr helping Kratos through his personal struggles.
- Commonality Connection: One of the major things Kratos and Sora bond over is their shared Blood Knight natures. Both really enjoy fighting powerful opponents, and they have protracted, engaging conversations (especially notable since Kratos isn't much of a talker even with the people he's friends with) on the enemies they've fought and the best ways to kill them.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Atreus gets pissed when Angrboða calls Sora cute. He calms down when she assures that she loves him.
- Domain Holder: Thanks to being a Primordial entity who's very being is tied to the realm of Niflheim (and Muspelheim thanks to her link with Surtr), Sinmara is this for the realm. At the same time, this comes with the drawback of losing a vast majority of her power should she ever leave it. Part of why she needed Sindri's help was so he could craft a device that'd let her access the full scope of her might even outside her domain, as she'll need all of it to get the Keyblade.
- The Dreaded: Keyblade wielders are highly feared in the God of War universe due to the sheer power and potency of their magic rivaling, if not outright surpassing, the gods themselves. Kratos is immensely cautious the first time he runs into Sora, and even Yggdrasil itself wants the Keyblade wielder off their world as soon as possible. Considering Sora can casually sever the branches that connect the realms of Muspelheim and Niflheim, causing absurd damage to the World Tree itself that threatens the balance of all realms (and by complete accident at that), this fear is far from unfounded.
- Dream Land: Chapters 24 to 26 see Sora, Kratos, Atreus, and Mimir traverse the Lyngbakr’s Heart and enter one of these, with their intent being to try and free it from the nightmares brought about by its enslavement under Odin and Mimir.
- Dude, Not Funny!:
- Mimir yells at Kratos and Sora when they start teasing him after refusing to discuss other worlds with him, causing them to apologize.
- When Kratos tells Atreus about Big Daddy and Sally, Atreus makes fun of them when Kratos says Big Daddy was mute and deformed under his armor and Sally seemed to be mentally handicapped. Kratos sternly tells him that was uncalled for.
- Enemy Mine: When recollecting the events of his battle against the Polygon Man, Kratos muses that it was perhaps one of the few times he and his father ever saw eye-to-eye on anything, both of them teaming up to defeat a greater threat.
- Everyone Has Standards: Sindri may utterly hate Kratos and Atreus for their roles in Brok's death, but even he refuses to partake in Sinmara's revenge scheme against them due to the sheer depths of her madness. He's ultimately forced to go along with it due to being trapped in Niflheim at her mercy.
- Experienced Protagonist: Pretty much everyone, as Atreus has been going on his own myriad of adventures in the interval between Ragnarök and the fic's storyline, while Sora's hot off the heels of the events of Kingdom Hearts III. Kratos, aside from his past experiences in both Greece and the Nordic lands, also has the events of Playstation All Stars Battle Royale, Soul Calibur IV, Mortal Kombat 9, and Shovel Knight under his belt.
- Friendship Moment: Kratos finds himself forever in Sora's debt when the Keyblade wielder gifts him some olives and cherries, which were native to Greece and thought to be extinct. There's another one when Sora teaches him, Atreus, and Mimir how to use Flowmotion.
- Homing Lasers: After Mimir learns Flowmotion, he applies it to allow his Bifrost Eye Beams to bend and track their targets. The author said to think of Darkseid's Omega Beams.
- Horrifying the Horror: Kratos recalls the Polygon Man as a terrifying foe, yet even he was scared of the Keyblade and avoided worlds with Keyblade users.
- Interrupted Intimacy:
- In Chapter 18, when Atreus goes to check in on Skjöldr, he winds up accidentally walking in on him and Thrúd while they're in the middle of having sex in a cave. Cue Atreus averting his eyes and running out of said cave while Skjöldr and Thrúd freak out and cover themselves, the latter threatening Atreus while doing so.
- In Chapter 31, Kratos knocks on Skjöldr's door. Cue him and Thrúd struggling to put their clothes on before he answers.
- Irony: After she starts falling in love with Kratos, Freya notes bitterly how ironic the entire thing is, as Odin ruined her life yet is responsible for her greatest joy (her son, Baldur), while Kratos saved her life, yet killed that very same joy.
- Named by the Adaptation: When Kratos talks about meeting Big Daddy/Mr. Bubbles and Little Sister during Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale, he says Little Sister was named Sally.
- Official Couple: Atreus and Angrboða are shown to have become a couple during the aforementioned Time Skip. After getting a talk from Sora, Thrúd's able to get over her nervousness regarding her feelings for Skjöldr and the two become a couple as well.
- Parental Sexuality Squick: Atreus gets disturbed when Lúnda hits on his father and when he realizes Kratos and Freya have a thing going on.
- Pet the Dog: Despite forcing Sindri to work with her, Sinmara allows him to work on his own means of escape, even genuinely sympathizing with him over the death of Brok. While he makes his opposition to her clear, she bears no ill will towards him and lets him go, even apologizing over the fact that they're now enemies.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Happens to Sinmara courtesy of Sora, with Niflheim as the can. When he cuts off the realm's connection to the World Tree, it leaves her unable to leave her dimension at all. As such, much of her time is spent looking for ways to escape.
- Secret Secret-Keeper: Thrúd and Skjöldr make it a point to try and keep their relationship a secret from Sif, but it's revealed in Chapter 32 that she's already well aware. The two are nowhere near as subtle as they'd like to believe they are, and Thrúd's mother finds their attempts amusing.
- Ship Tease: Kratos and Freya get quite a bit of this, with many characters noting how close they've become over the years. This gets fully addressed in Chapter 31, which confirms that their feelings for each other are romantic in nature, though Kratos' killing of Baldur is the main reason why both hold off on confronting said feelings.
- Spirited Competitor: Sora loves competing in tournaments to test and improve his skills. In Chapter 30, when discussing the upcoming tournament to celebrate everyone's survival of Ragnarök, Sora suggests that the Grande prize be the chance to fight Kratos in single combat. Kratos and Týr are quick to see that he just wants to fight Kratos, to which it's pointed out that he could simply ask for a spar. Sora notes that he could, but he really wants to compete in a tournament.Týr: Sora, if you want to fight Kratos, all you have to do is ask.
Sora: [embarrassed] Yeah, but...tournaments. - Stepford Smiler: While Sora has his usual cheerful, upbeat demeanor, there are several instances where he grows increasingly somber when thinking about his friends back home. Chapter 6 in particular shows that he's still deeply haunted by the fate of the Destiny Islands where he grew up and does his best to keep his head held high so he can move forward.
- Superior Successor: In the five years since the fall of Asgard, Thrúd has become this to her father. Thor, as the previous God of Thunder and wielder of Mjölnir, was a violent butcher who slaughtered countless under Odin's orders and was despised by many. Thrúd, after taking up her dad's hammer and old godly titles, strives to help protect the innocent of the Eight Realms from the many dangers that lurk it, and is well-regarded by the people as a hero.
- Supreme Chef: Sora's noted, and frequently shown, to be an amazing cook, often putting his knowledge of preparing meals from other worlds to good use. Much of his free time is spent cooking either for nearby villages or his friends, and everyone has something positive to say about his culinary craftsmanship.
- Take That!: Kratos did not like PaRappa's rap music and wonders why he was called history's greatest musician.
- Time Skip: The plot of the story is set five years after the events of God of War Ragnarök.
- Trapped in Villainy: Sindri wants nothing to do with Sinmara or her quest for vengeance and would rather just stay far away from his former colleagues. The only reason he finds himself assisting her is because he's trapped in her realm and she's threatening to kill him unless he helps her break out.
- Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny: A downplayed case of this in Chapter 36, as the final battle of the tournament is Kratos vs. Sora, which even In-Universe was highly anticipated by the major characters. The fight is ultimately a friendly, if intense duel, and it ends in a draw.
- Underestimating Badassery:
- In Chapter 6, Thrúd comments that Sora seems like too much of a comical goofball to be such a massive threat to the realms. Even when told of him severing two of the Eight Realms from the World Tree, she dismisses it as more the Keyblade than Sora himself. This comes back to bite her in Chapter 35, where during the tournament, she decides she doesn't even need Mjölnir to fight him. The end result is Sora kicking her ass without much issue, even after she decides to whip out the hammer.
- Sinmara believes that if she had access to her full power, she'd be able to take the Keyblade from Sora and use it to bring back Surtr. She realizes just how wrong she is when Sora starts pummeling her after accessing Rage Form.
- We Are as Mayflies: Discussed when Kratos, Sif, Mimir, and Freya watch over Thrúd and Skjöldr's romance. As the two are a goddess and mortal respectively, Thrúd will far outlive Skjöldr, leading the older gods and goddesses to question such a match given the heartache that will inevitably entail for the former. Kratos gives his own perspective, as he entered his relationship with Faye believing her to be mortal. He notes that while the pain of outliving your loved ones may never truly fade, the happiness and shared memories you make with them is worth it in the end.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Ratatoskr yells at Sora when he accidentally damages the World Tree.
- Kratos and Sora refuse to tell Mimir anything about other worlds and have a laugh at his expense due to finding his frustration at being denied knowledge amusing. Mimir blows up at them for this, causing them to apologize and start telling him and Atreus about other worlds.
- Worthy Opponent: Kratos and Týr are both impressed with Sora's strength after sparring with him. Kratos also considers Raiden one of his greatest mortal opponents, with strength and skill worthy of a god.
- You Didn't Ask: When Sora meets Jörmungandr, he asks permission to ride on his head, which is granted. Shocked, Atreus says he didn't know that the World Serpent would allow anyone to ride him, and an amused Mimir says he never asked.
- Young and in Charge: Despite only being, at most, 19 or 20, Skjöldr's been named the leader of his village. According to him, it's due to his close friendships with gods and Jötnar, making him a natural spokesperson for his people. Freya also notes that, despite his youth, he has a natural charisma alongside a genuine talent for leadership.
- You Remind Me of X: Big Daddy and Sally reminded Kratos of himself and Calliope: a father who would do anything to protect his daughter.
